Defiance
by captaincadwaller
Summary: When the demons took over the government, only two magicians evaded capture. One of them was, of course, John Mandrake. The other was Brandon Frost. His escape consisted mostly of blunders and luck, but in the end, he managed to survive.


**Chapter 1: Escaping Other People's Fate**

I'd never quite understood why I didn't trust Quentin Makepeace. Perhaps it was my inborn dislike of theatre. Perhaps it was the fact that he was so bloody _happy_ all the time. Whatever it was, it was still a shock to find that my suspicions _hadn't_ been in vain, that I _wasn't_ going mad, contrary to popular belief.

I remember the day he finally showed his true colors. It was during the premiere of From Wapping to Westminister, his newest, horrific performance that he tried to pass off as a play. To make it even worse, it was a bloody _musical!_ I had the misfortune of having to share a box with Sholoto Pinn.

The musical was becoming boring (in the true Makepeace style). I cast my eyes around the theatre, and my gaze fell upon Makepeace himself, sharing a box with John Mandrake and some girl I didn't know.

Since I was still wearing my lenses (the darkness of the first plane tended to make me uncomfortable), I got a pretty good glimpse of Makepeace holding a glint of silver to Mandrake's throat.

The next thing I knew, a small gaggle of foliots had invaded the box. I quickly leapt out of the way, and hid in the shadows behind the curtain. I was extremely lucky that the foliots didn't try to pursue me (they were too busy making quick work of Pinn). With the ease of long practice, I crept out of the box and full out sprinted towards the exit. Again, I was extremely lucky. More imps and foliots, along with the occasional djinn, were heading towards the main theatre.

I looked around for a place to hide. Quickly, I jumped behind the nearest means of shelter, which just happened to be the snack bar.

I was rewarded by falling face-first into a bowl of nacho cheese. At least it was cold. With my face covered with the yellow custard-like substance, I crouched behind the snack bar. When the last minor imp had passed, I ran out of the building. Sticking to the shadows, I ran as quickly as possible to my home.

It wasn't the best idea, since Makepeace was sure to discover soon that I had escaped, but I was sorely in the need of help. I wouldn't feel comfortable until I had at least a sixth-level djinni at my command.

I made it safely to my flat. Instead of running straight to the nearest pentacle, I took a quick detour to the bathroom. I grabbed a towel, soaked it in warm water, and then proceeded to wipe off the blobby substance that coated my face.

When I was free of any lingering traces of the cheese, I made my way down to my study.

"Hoi! What'd you do, get stuck out in the rain?" the imp in the door said, taking note of my still soaking-wet hair.

"Can it, or you'll feel the Stipples next time I come back," I snapped. The imp instantly quieted. It had been in my service for a long time, and it knew only too well the ferocity with which I administered punishments.

I looked to the pentacle in the far side of the room. Luckily, I had been setting up for a Summoning when I had remembered that I had a premiere to attend, so everything was already set up. I lit the candles, and, in my haste, nearly spit out the incantation.

The demon appeared with the usually over-dramatic display: roaring wind, menacing pose, frightening guise. I stood, unfazed and impatiently, in my spot. When the demon realized that I hadn't reacted at all to its effort to terrorize me, it transformed into a mangy tabby cat and proceeded to glare at me.

"Copernicus?" I asked. The demon rolled its eyes.

"What's the point of summoning an afrit if you don't even know my name?" it said.

An afrit huh? I looked over to the list of names, and saw that Copernicus was actually a djinni, sixth level. Nowhere near an afrit.

"Your task will be to protect me from rogue magicians. Failure to do so will earn you an Unfortunate Hug. Is that clear?" The djinni nodded sullenly. I waited while he stepped out of the pentacle, in the guise of a sphinx, before moving. Copernicus took note of my caution and grimaced.

First, he spun a strong Glamour on me. To be safe, I looked at myself in a mirror. Instead of the usual unruly blonde mop of hair, I now had neat and trimmed auburn hair and sideburns. My nose was a bit longer and off-center, and my eyes had changed to green. I scanned the reflection, and found, to my satisfaction, that I looked the same way on the three planes I could see.

Then, he changed my voice. In a bit of sick humor, the djinni made me sound like a little girl. My glower was enough to make it fix its 'mistake'. After a few more transformations (most of which involved me looking more and more like a Commoner) I was ready to go back out into the open. It wasn't a moment too soon. As I snuck out through the back exit, a loud knock was heard echoing through the entire block.

As I had ordered the djinni to do so, Copernicus opened the door.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

"We're looking for Brandon Frost. I'm sure that you've heard of him, since he's obviously your master." The gruff voice made me think of one of Lovelace's old allies. What was his name? Something like a fruit?

"Oh, I'm sorry. He left earlier this evening to go see the new play. If only he had let me go with him!" I had to hand it to Copernicus, he was good.

"Come on, Lime, he's probably not here." Lime! It was Rufus Lime, the man that looked remarkably like a fish. I heard some muttering, a sharp exclamation from Copernicus, and then a loud clattering. Trying to resist the urge to stop Fish-Face from laying his grubby paws on any of my things (there were ANTIQUES in there!), I ran towards the back of my garden and jumped the fence. I ran farther from my house, and towards the Commoners part of town. Right now, it seemed that it was the safest place to be. Oh, how wrong I was about that!


End file.
